IN PROGRESS

Some rough character, mood, and color studies for upcoming project.

Stay tuned...

IN PROGRESS

Some rough character, mood, and color studies for upcoming project.

Stay tuned...

The Mashups

Disney asked me to develop a pitch for an animated series so I dreamt up The Mashups ~ A group of small town, middle school misfits find an outlet for their bigger-than-real-life imaginations in Virtopia, the virtual world where anything's possible.

You won’t find a more diverse group of kids. An advanced math and science guru, a BMX racing star, a woodwind prodigy, a martial arts maniac and a recent big city transplant. These kids might never have become friends if it hadn’t been for Virtopia. Well, Virtopia and Drew Webber.

Thimble

Thimble is a very busy beaver from a village of very busy beavers. What he lacks in stature, he more than makes up for in style.

He's crazy about clothes, and he's decided to bring his sartorial savvy to the Macho Peecho Mountain Beavers - backwards beasts that live high above the cloud layer and are rumored to wear no clothes whatsoever! In the end, Thimble discovers maybe he's the one who has things backwards.

NOTE: This is not a published book yet. I just like to see what it might look like when it is.

This is a mock up of the book cover. I know things like the book cover will be changed or even scrapped once the editing process begins, but I like to imagine these things with the end product in mind. It's something I picked up from years of designing for clients in the digital agency world.

Some Thimble-made hats (scroll down)

Just some hand-drawn hats.

Monkeys

Just some monkeys. You're welcome!

All content / Copyright Chad Otis 2017

Snow Day

MONSTERS

These are exploratory illustrations from a collaboration with another author.

All content / Copyright Chad Otis 2017

Monsters

These are exploratory illustrations from a collaboration with another author.

All content / Copyright Chad Otis 2017

Stunt Bugs

This was my pupa!

I did everything from pitching the original concept, to story craft, dialogue, character design, animation and core game design.

This was also Random House Digital's first original mobile game.

THE STORY

Buzz is just a common housefly with an uncommon dream. He wants to be a Stunt Bug Legend!

It's dangerous work, but he knows the only way to become a legend is to make it in the big city of Bugtropolis. So, armed only with his modest motorcycle and the determination of ten normal bugs, Buzz sets out on his journey.

He’ll need to perform well on the hand-crafted courses, revving up the danger and red-lining the risk as he makes his way all the way from his rural home to suburbia, through the urban outskirts, and eventually to Bugtropolis. The danger throttles up even more as territorial bugs invade the Stunt courses. Fortunately for Buzz he isn’t the only bug with big dreams in his little head. He’ll join forces with other thrill-seeking bugs as he goes. Flick the high jumping flea, Web the lasso-spinning spider, Dot the high-altitude hovering ladybug, Enzo the hyper-boosting, mustachioed gnat from bygone days, and Blaze the fire ant that actually shoots fireballs. They all bring their special talents to the group and make the impossible possible.

Rewarded for good performances, the bugs collect coins as they go which allows them to hire new bugs, even Legend Bugs who bring even more new abilities to the traveling group.

Everyone's heard rumors that the Ultimate Legend bug, Weevil McNeevil, still guards the honor of stunt bugs everywhere from the shadows of Bugtropolis. Is it true? Crank the throttle, pop the clutch and find out!

Nickelodeon character

The folks at Nickelodeon asked me to imagine a character.

This character was meant to act as an at-the-ready helper within apps as well as showing up on air between shows. I provided three approaches to the character design along with narrative describing the character.

Monsters

These are exploratory illustrations from a collaboration with another author.

All content / Copyright Chad Otis 2017

Blog

The New Yorker

Since The New Yorker doesn't accept unsolicited cover submissions, I'm hoping if a make a few fake covers I might get a cease and desist (and a contract, of course).